Free Speech in Canada?

A couple of things crossed my computer screen this morning as I was scanning the news...

I'll start with a disclaimer, I am not of Israeli descent, nor of Palestinian... I am Canadian, and perhaps the reason why reading these news blurbs is so troubling today is that Canadian Pride and Patriotism is at a pretty substantial high right now with a record number of Gold medals at the just closed Vancouver Olympics. On a personal level I have stayed away from the politics of the Israeli/Palestinian debate. I always figured their political issues were theirs and didn't involve me regardless of how fair or unfair I feel certain political actions are or how many friends or colleagues I may have of either descent.

I'm a bit of an history buff too, and I see a similar strain of events having occurred in a particular European country in the 1930's... only this time it's different, it's current history and it's in the democracy of Canada.

First I would like to draw your attention to the arts news: Artists Unite to Protest Israeli Apartheid. I have no issue with artists standing up for what they believe in or feel. In fact art is one of the first areas that often shows, through literature, film, visual art forms, and music, sea-changes that are occurring in our national and international social milieu.

...but that isn't really the headline or story that got me, this is... Parliament to Vote on Tory Motion Against Free Speech By Corvin Russell, March 1, 2010. At first glance I was thinking that this was occurring in some back-water, non-progressive, democratic-in-name only nation that wasn't in this hemisphere. Opps, wrong! It's Canada, my home nation, my pride and joy, a bastion of free speech and democracy even if we have been legislating gun ownership since the 30's and been actively trying to disarm sane Canadian citizens for the past 25 years.

So here's my problem... being a self-absorbed Canadian and not really having given Israel or Palestine a passing glance for their conflicts... We have provincial and federal Parliamentarians bringing bills forward that will restrict the hard fought and hard won rights (through the battles of World War 2) to maintain democratic free speech in Canada, where we can as Canadians support any religion, ideology, political theory without fear of repercussion provided that we aren't being nasty and violent while we are protesting or supporting the ideology.

Seems to me that the some twisted up German psychopath went to work at first disarming the country's law-abiding citizens, picking out the troublemakers and having them quietly disposed of, stifling free speech by passing legislation in whatever their Parliamentary system was, segregating the population, and hosting some Olympic games in the late 30's. We called them Nazi's when we fought them in WW2 and lost 46,998 of the 2.5million Canadians that were enlisted in the effort.

I fear that we have started down a slippery slope that has nothing to do with skiing, sledding or skating.

When it happens in Canada, what are we going to call them?

I also wonder if I am still allowed to ask that question?
--

Going Political 3

Adam Lambert at the American Music Awards



I am all for equality, you may have already figured that out if you've been reading regularly.

For years, women have been breaking barriers in the music industry through their choices of costuming and dance and through their overt portrayal of female sexuality. Way to go ladies, we have succeed in becoming hot objects of lust. Now we have a man attempting to do exactly what the women have been doing ever since Madonna donned her Gaultier corset and it is completely unacceptable, bad TV, too sexy, too raunchy, and just too much for North American media to wrap its brains around.

If we can, as a culture, accept and objectify women as sexual creatures via music, movies, TV, readily accessible soft-porn as movies, books, magazines, why is it so terrible that a man would want to be objectified in the same manner as his female musical predecessors?

You tell me... because I don't understand.
--

Going Political 2

From CBC News

Vandals damage Fredericton cenotaph

Members of Fredericton's Royal Canadian Legion are asking vandals who destroyed part of the city's cenotaph to turn themselves in as the organization prepares for Remembrance Day.

Jean-Guy Perrault, the president of Branch 4 of the Royal Canadian Legion, arrived at the cenotaph on Monday morning to decide where to place the crosses for Wednesday's Remembrance Day ceremony. That's when he noticed that the cenotaph had been heavily damaged in places.

"I almost fell on my knees. It hurt. Like I said … how can people sleep at night who did that — for the poor soldiers who fought for our country, for what we have that is so beautiful," Perrault said.

The cenotaph is the site of the main Remembrance Day event in the provincial capital. A three-metre-high granite cross atop the monument was toppled to the ground and smashed into pieces.

David Smith, who worked with the Royal Canadian Legion on the cenotaph project, said it will be difficult to explain to veterans when they arrive on Nov. 11 why this vandalism took place.

"I think its devastating to take into consideration the number of fallen people that we've had and this is a heck of a way to remember them and at this time of the year," Smith said.

"And to devastate this particular monument is terrible."

Perrault said while he thinks the cenotaph can be fixed, he wants the vandals to step forward.

"Please come forward, excuse yourself, the damage is done … come forward, why did you do that," Perrault said.

"Please I'm begging, come to the legion, come talk to me, please. My heart is broken, really broken."

Fredericton police are investigating.

---

I am disgusted with this act of vandalism. If it was true vandalism, why not do it Halloween weekend? Why wait until the week of Remembrance Day? My personal opinion is that was done as an anti-war statement against Canada's contribution to the NATO war effort in Afghanistan.

My personal feelings on the war have varied over the years and I am finding that I disagree more and more with the Canada's policies on the war effort as there are things that could have been done differently far sooner to have made more significant and stronger impacts on the war and in Afghanistan. My issue is with the politicians who make the decisions, not with the troops who serve.

The troops who serve, are men and women who enlisted in the CF for a job. They didn't know what the job could be.

20 years ago it was all peace-keeping, either UN or NATO led. Peace-keeping presented its own issues to our troops who were situated in the Balkans and Kosovo in the early 90's. It was a violent situation, rife with human abuses and because it was peace-keeping, there was no way to engage the 'enemy' to make them stop raping and torturing. Perhaps being able to stop the abuse with the shoot-first policy of war is better?

Since 2002 it has been a NATO led war. Some of our CF members that are serving and have served in Afghanistan signed up well before 9/11 was ever thought possible, some signed on after because 9/11 was reality.

I will continue to support our troops because they are doing a job, just like you & me. I am sure that they are not always thrilled with their job everyday, like us, but everyday they go and they do what they are asked by the "Boss". In their situation, the Boss happens to be the Canadian Government, the Canadian Government was elected by the people of Canada, ergo, they work for us so we damn well better realize that until we choose a government that will treat our employees better, that we should stand behind them and show them our support.

Bluntly, we put the politicians in the Parliament that put the troops in Afghanistan so regardless of how we voted last time and feel about the war effort, as citizens of a free and democratic nation; thank you to all World War Vets for that, and to all since who have fought, died, been wounded, kept the peace, seen the worst and best of humanity for making Canada the nation that she is; we have a right to bitch about it but we don't have a right to destroy and degrade.

I miss my friend that is currently serving oversees. Stay safe, stay well and regardless, you are remembered.

Going Political #1

I have had a continual debate with myself for some time about being political in my blog. I have always backed down on making a statement, but the time has come to go there.

There is often a handful of dedicated protesters across the street from Fredericton's women's clinic with placards that support a pro-life stance. I have an odd reaction to seeing the various persons there, and as I drive by and wave, I find myself singing this:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U0kJHQpvgB8

It's perhaps a funny choice of song, but being that both men and women appear there, and that their belief in the idea of the moment of conception being the beginning of life as we know it, I would want to push the argument back and ask which came first: the egg or the protester?

....and no, I don't want to start a riot over this, just want share an odd reaction.
--